Dragons Lair
by Miss Albus Severus
Summary: Imagine. Hogwarts robbed of its teachers. Of all things familiar. Instead - strangers in the midst. Not ordinary strangers either -- Malfoys.


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**Dragons Lair – Prologue**

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** A/N- This is a my Draco fic I've been planning for a while, I've been reading quite a few Draco fics and I noticed that not a lot of them have dwelled on his family, I'm talking about his family outside Lucius and Narcissa, mind you. Anyway, I thought I'd try my hand at it… tell me in your reviews what ya think =P -- DoF**

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Draco Malfoy looked in the mirror once more, hesitating. Somehow it felt like something was missing… he looked at his reflection, smirking as he saw how innocent he looked. For a second anyway. So, what was missing? Not a strand of his white blond hair was out of place, his grey eyes glinted with an air of danger and his sneer was practiced to perfection. Coal black Hogwarts robes flowed down to his ankles, the Slytherin emblem delicately embroidered, the green and silver serpent rising from its coil, its coal black eyes glinting. His hands were washed, his trunk was packed and his eagle owl were locked in its cage downstairs. Frowning, Draco looked around, certain that he was forgetting something. Suddenly it hit him. Striding over to his inexplicably large bed he muttered something under his breath, grinning as a leather bound journal appeared, a picture of a green dragon consumed in flames on the front. He tucked it into the inside pocket of his robes, safe so no one could find it. Even if someone did find it they'd never be able to read it, he'd put various hexes to make the result quite… disturbing if anyone apart from him tried to open it. 

No one knew he kept a diary. Not his parents. Not Crabbe. Not Goyle. Absolutely no one… Draco gazed out his large, Victorian style windows, his eyes surveying the lush grounds that surrounded Malfoy Manor. It was the last time he'd see it in a while as both Mother and Father were busy and needed the Manor for work. He would have to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays… along with that ass. His handsome features darkened as he thought of, as he liked to put it- "The-boy-who-lived-to-be-a-pain-in-my-ass." Potter was a piece of vermin. No wait… that wouldn't be fair… on the vermin. Sighing audibly as he heard his Firators voice telling him to get his ass downstairs he glanced around his room once more, entirely oblivious to the fact that when he returned, everything would be very, very different.

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Coughing, Draco stepped out of the Piltyfig along with his Firator. Piltyfigs were basically junior apparation boxes. Unfortunately the ministry had some crackpot idea that younger members of the wizarding would abuse the device. As if. So, they had to have supervision- a Firator. The Piltyfig would be absolutely useless without a Firator. It would be impossible to work the magic. Draco glared at his Firator, certain that little poofs of smoke of every color imaginable were not supposed to be issuing at random from the Piltyfig. The little tag on the front of his emerald green robes indicated that his name was Harold. Draco raised his upper lip in a well practiced sneer.  "Well Harold." He drawled. "Guess you made a right ass of yourself as well as this good for nothing piece of crap."  

He glowered at the Piltyfig as if he'd like nothing better than to kick it. He couldn't wait til he was old enough to get his apparation license… but that was years away. Scowling heavily Draco pushed his way past Howard, blatantly ignoring the little sign which said- 'Tips customary.' He felt the disillusionment charm kick in… that bleeding Firator remembered something after all. Sighing he grabbed his trolley which was already sporting his trunk. He didn't know where it came from… one of the house elves must have conjured it… not wasting anymore time on house elf antics Draco headed straight for the barrier at a jog. 

He took a deep breath as he emerged, running a hand through his hair which was not ruffled in the slightest. A glint appeared in his grey eyes as he saw Potter standing a little way away from the Weasleys and their over grown mother. With a Cheshire cat grin on his face Draco crept up behind Potter. Let's see how brave he was when he heard voices in his head telling him to kill. To Dracos horror Potter spun around, his hand plunging into his robes, most probably reaching for his wand. He stumbled backwards, tripping over a trunk which promptly sprang open, and as it happened, landed painfully on his ass.  The disillusionment charm decided that this was the ideal time to wear off. Draco cursed under his breath as he found himself staring at Potters wand which was held by the ass himself. "Malfoy?" Harry asked, a 'I wouldn't expect anything else' look on his face. 

"Don't fall over yourself to help me up." Draco snarled. He didn't really think Potter would help him up, infact if he did try to help him up he'd probably jinx him for the heck of it. Getting to his feet swiftly, kicking the half opened trunk while he was at it. Narrowing his eyes Draco inspected his opponent carefully. Smirking, he realised that whilst Harry had had a growth spurt he, Draco was still a good three inches or so taller. He'd also been working on his muscle tone whilst Harry had been with the Weasleys, goofing off and having the time of his life. Pathetic really. Cheering inwardly Draco brushed his robes down, still managing to look dignified in the process. Father had taught him some good tricks. He noticed (with another smirk) that Potter seemed rather shifty under his scrutiny. 

"Hey Harry come on, the trains leaving in… like, three minutes, where's your trunk and stuff?" Oh great, it was Weasley. He had come up behind Potter, an anxious look on his freckled face. 

"Muggle loving fool." Draco muttered, just loud enough for the two to hear. Ron glared at him, his hands balled into fists. 

"Sorry, didn't quite catch what you said." 

Draco simply sneered. 

"And what makes you think that I'd waste my breath repeating myself on a …  well, a Weasley?" He'd expected Ronny boy to leap forward, send a hex his way, yell naughty things at him in the very least. But no. Ron simply smiled, his smile being very high up on the infuriating and slightly cocky list. Draco suspected he'd been practicing it in front of the mirror for a while. 

"You wait Malfoy." Ron said, an unusual glimmer in his chocolate brown eyes. "You just wait." 

Shrugging off what he assumed was supposed to sound like a threat, Draco spun on his heel, heading for the Prefects carriage. Looking down at his gleaming badge Draco knew he was supposed to feel… proud? Happy? Superior in the very least? Sighing, Draco realised he didn't feel the slightest emotion when he received the letter in the mail. All he could think about was that Father would be pleased but for all the wrong reasons. Father wouldn't be overjoyed that he had been made prefect. He wouldn't even care. All he wanted was his only child to become a Death Eater. And that was the one thing Draco wasn't sure he could do. So, he tried to make it up by getting good grades and being an ass in general. Not implying that the second wasn't fun. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't now and it never would be. 

            A scowl on his face Draco pushed open the door to the Prefects compartment. Pansy-the-Pug leapt up at once, an eager look on her face. Draco simply sent her a glare, throwing down his trunk with a bang and collapsing on an empty seat on the other side of the carriage. He simply sat there for a few minutes, a blank look on his face, glancing up only as the Ravenclaw Prefects walked in, talking amongst themselves. Seeing his (completely innocent and non-evil) look they both stopped, glared at him and continued their conversation in whispers with the Hufflepuff prefects leaning in and getting the gossip, occasionally shooting dark looks his way. Draco gave them a trademark Malfoy sneer, watching with a satisfied smirk as they shrank back, falling silent. 

            He stretched his arms, catlike, above his head. Looking around at the other prefects pets he smiled approvingly. No toads. No dogs… then again what would a dog be doing at Hogwarts? They weren't allowed, and thank god for that. Mangy, slobbering mutts. He grinned as a sleek black cat rubbed itself against his legs. Reaching down he scooped it into his lap. The other prefects were watching him warily, wondering whether he was going to torture the poor kitty. He rubbed it between the ears, smiling as a satisfied purr reached him. 

            Cats were so much more refined than dogs. Too bad Mother didn't think the same. Sighing, Draco pulled the cat off his lap and set it down on the floor. It gave him what could only be defined as a reproachful look before stalking out the compartment, tail held aloft. 

            He was distracted by a shriek. Turning, he saw Padma Patil pressed back against her seat, eyes wide open with fear. Her gaze was directed at a large black bird which had just flown in. Draco glared at her as it landed on his shoulder.

"Honestly, you're acting as if you've never seen an owl before. Stupid Ravenclaw." He added in an undertone, gently stroking the bird. It was a very rare breed of owl, kind of a cross species of a raven. Draco suppressed a groan as everyone in the carriage turned and stared at his pet. The bird stared back, its ebony black feathers smooth and sleek, head slightly cocked, eyeing its audience with beady eyes. Cross species owls were the best. He'd gotten Pandora as a back to school present. He had felt rather annoyed when Father said he had gotten him an owl, Dracos initial reaction was 'an OWL? You have to be kidding me… why not a new broomstick?' But as soon as he had seen Pandora… the bird was amazing, it did so much more than simply carry letters. 

            Draco darted a superior look around the room, his gaze finally resting on a snowy white female owl. Dracos brow furrowed, his long slender fingers tapping his armrest impatiently. No, it couldn't be, not- "Potter!" 

            Dracos head snapped up as Harry strode into the room, Ron and Hermione tagging behind him. He narrowed his eyes at them, wondering how Gryffindor could have three prefects. After ten minutes of… listening in unobtrusively (Malfoys didn't eavesdrop)  Draco realised that Ron and Hermione was the actual prefects and Potter had been elected by the teachers (Snape not included) for services to the school or some crap. At that moment Harry looked over at him, an unreadable expression in his emerald green eyes. Draco simply sneered at him, turning back to Pandora. That owl was better company than all the idiots in the carriage put together. 

"Yeah, I heard that Malfoy… kept it quiet… the ministry." 

Draco shot an overly hostile look towards (as he put it) the sadistic three. Talking about him behind his back now were they? 

"Would you like to share something with the rest of us?" He drawled, his voice clear. All three heads snapped towards him wearing matching expressions of guilt. Hermione opened her mouth, probably to give a very long, complicated answer but was interrupted by Professor Snape who looked very disgruntled indeed. 

"Professor?" Snapes coal black eyes flicked around the room before coming to rest on him. Maybe Draco imagined it but for a second he was sure that there was a sign of relief in those eyes. Nah, he was probably imagining things. 

            At that very moment Potters stomach gave a large growl. Draco smirked. "Hungry Potter?" Harry blinked, wondering whether the two simple words were a insult in disguise. Draco could almost see the cogs in his head turning. After a few long, incredibly tedious moments Potter came up with a- "Yes." 

"Wow." Draco said sarcastically, his lip raised in a sneer. "You're blowing me away by your large vocabulary." 

Pansy let out a shriek of laughter which stopped as he shot her a withering glare. "Shut up, you sound like a pig that's been stepped on." 

He could be as much as an ass as he liked towards Pansy now which was a relief. For a while when their parents had been on good terms he had to be nice but ever since certain people had started pointing fingers about certain artifacts which the ministry had gotten hold of… well, the Parkinsons and the Malfoys would not be found in the same room anymore. Which was great. An indignant flush rose in her cheeks, mouth opening as if to say something but instead got a _silencio_ spell cast on her, probably by Granger. Speaking of Granger, the mudblood has loosened up considerably since before, not being such a stickler for rules and not really minding when put in detention and such. However when things got a bit too out of hand she turned back into her bossy, domineering self. In his opinion she was too smart; he worked his ass off to get good marks yet she always beat him, without even trying. It really wasn't fair. He had to physically restrain himself from scowling. An aloof and indifferent air was always the best way for a man to be. A chuckle rose in his throat as he took into account the dopey grins that Harry and Ron had on their faces as they looked over at him, sniggering under their breaths. It was going to be a long year. 

Draco guessed that he must have dozed off behind his Potions textbook because the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by Darkness and the entire carriage was empty. Blinking, Draco looked around himself in alarm before looking at his watch. His eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, tripping over something. Cursing, he stumbled out of the train, calling to Pandora at the same time. He pulled out his wand as one unsheathes a sword, muttering lumos under his breath. With the light that his wand issued, Draco managed to find his way to the front gate of Hogwarts and throw himself inside, grateful for the warm interior. He straightened up, rummaging around for a comb and dragging it through his hair. After giving his robes a quick brush down, he raised his chin a notch, straightened his shoulders, arranged his lips into a smirk and strolled into the Great Hall. 

He had been expecting lots of curious stares and a lot of whispered talk. After all, he was the most well known Slytherin in Hogwarts. And that was the sole reason he was so surprised when nobody gave him a second glance. Indeed, someone had them so wrapped up in something that he suspected they wouldn't even blink if The Dark Lord himself appeared in their midst dressed up as a fairy with a sparkly tinsel halo. Draco slipped silently in between the House Tables until he got to Slytherin. Taking a seat he leant forward to get a good view of whoever was talking. Dumbledore? No… it was at that moment Draco got a view of the teachers table. His eyes widened as he realised that he did not recognise any of the teachers – they were all new… but vaguely familiar… Draco turned his attention to the one giving the speech – the one who held everyone's attention. A strangled cry escaped his lips as the person turned towards him and looked him in the eye. Draco knew him. Draco knew every single one of those people seated at the teachers table. A shark like smile appeared on the mans face.

"Why, hello there nephew."

Draco fainted.

**A/N – Yes I know it's short but do keep in mind that it is only the Prologue. I expect that the other chappies will be must longer than this. I don't know when I'll be able to update again because I also have Life of Shadows going on at the moment as well as numerous school activities. That and the fact that I'm moving Continents. -___-;; Anyway, if you could tell me what you think then that'll be great ^__^ -- DoF**


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